First sail of 2006
02/01/2006
Last day of the X-Mas holidays - back to work tomorrow. Still, it could be worse: Brigitte's at work already.
I decided to take Yanita out one more time. God knows when we would be able to take her out again.
Not much wind was forecast, but at least it would not rain. Fellow YBW forumite "sailorman" would be afloat too. Celebrating his birthday. If we met up, I'd get him a beer.
We arrived in Shotley just after 11h00. Not a lot of traffic on the road. Most people still hung over.
Hardly any wind, but the tide would be with us. We were there anyway, so cast off. Minor scare at the lock - we approached sideways. We mess up one approach every year, if this was the one... no harm done.
As we approached Pin Mill at a leisurely 4kts we spotted a few boats coming the other way. Jolie Brise was the lead one. Would he have forgotten about the beer?
No such luck. Exchanged hallos and "sailorman" promptly decided to drop the first beer I chucked him over the side. An offering to Neptune he called it. Some people don't age well.
Another RAS approach - 3 beers in a bin-liner at the end of a boat-hook. Success. Your very good health, Roger.
As the wind had now dropped to less than 2 knots we decided to call it a day. Furled the genoa, dropped the main, engine on. Headed for our berth. We navigated the lock without any problems and as I brought us alongside Evita tied us up singlehanded.
Here's to another year.
Merry X-Mas
25/12/2005
Over the next couple of weeks I make a couple of trips to Ipswich to check on the boat. There are always the odd little jobs to to. Replace a bit of her plumbing, fit new locks to the cockpit lockers, hoist or "winter" genoa and wash the summer genoa, empty the dehumidifier, run the heating, etc... I know it's a long drive, but being on the boat keeps me sane.
The overtime added up this year, so I'm able to spend over two weeks at home over X-Mas with the children. Alas Brigitte has no more time off this year.
We - dad & kids - have already been out sailing 3 times in one week. Utter bliss! OK, it's cold, but also beautiful and most of the time we were the only boat on the water. You couldn't get further away from stress if you tried. Sailing's a drug: it takes you to another world and it costs loads of money :-)
This year we were not going to visit family for X-Mas. This is our 7th X-Mas in England, and each and every year we have had to travel abroad to visit them. We decided to put our foot down - it costs as much and takes as long for them to visit us, as it does for us to visit them!
So, for a very untraditional X-Mas: we went sailing! Best sail in a long time - everyone enjoyed it a lot. Even the other boats on the water seemed grateful to be spared from their relatives. If it were up to me alone: same again next year!
Merry X-Mas and a Happy New Year from all of us.
Winter sailing
30/11/2005
As Yanita had spent close to ten months on the dry last year (refit) I wanted to keep her afloat this winter. She would only be a short (2 hour) drive away and if the weather allowed I would take her out every possible opportunity. After all - the Orwell / Stour area is one of the most beautiful sailing grounds I know.
As always, things don't go exactly to plan. Pressure of work and the weather gods all seem to conspire against us. It's late November before we can get our first bit of sailing in. Family / crew are not so keen - but I invoke the "for better or for worse" clause! I agreed not to sail when it rains; but if you think it's too cold - put another jumper on! Five layers are sexy!
Nothing exciting - a leisurely stroll up the Orwell as far as Pin Mill and back. Just what the doctor ordered - I almost feel human again. And I think the family ended up enjoying our little trip as well.
We have a namesake
31/10/2005
When we bought our boat renaming her was top of our list of things to do. She went by the horrible (and unpronounceable) name of HIJS.
Finding a suitable name for our pride and joy seemed a job tailor-made for the children. After two weeks of much deliberation we decide to discard their suggestions of Pokemon or Dragonball.
As they felt that their efforts were not being appreciated Mum decided to name the boat after them. YANni & EvITA - first 3 letters of his name, last 3 letters of her name: YANITA was born.
I checked the ITU website - no other boat by that name! Proud moment - a beautiful, unique name that meant something to us! Couple of months later, I checked the ITU site again - there was another Yanita! How dare they!
When we wanted to lock into Shotley for the first time it caused some confusion. How could they lock us in again, if they had only locked Yanita in two hours before? The "other" Yanita also lives in Shotley - what's more - she's on our pontoon.
We have never met the owner of the other Yanita - but if you do happen to drop by - I would like to know where you got the name from.
Homeward bound... (at last!)
16/10/2005
As she had now spent well over a year away from home, I felt it was more than time to bring Yanita back home. As I saw it, keeping her abroad for the winter was not an option. Ostend is quite exposed in the prevailing W-NW winds. I am quite keen on winter sailing - cold it may be, but also quite beautiful and far less crowded.
We do not have many happy memories of Channel crossings in October. Add to that the fact that it would just be Evita and me... I was not looking forward to the trip one bit. The weather forecast didn't look all that bad. A SW 4-5 - reaching all the way. It had been blowing 6-8 the preceding days, so I was worried that there would still be a lot of swell.
We got a cheap day-return Eurotunnel ticket, and Brigitte dropped us off at the boat. Evita & I had a meal in town before she turned in early. I had a couple of Farwell beers at the RNSYC bar. Soon it was time for me to turn in too - I had planned to catch the early morning tide around 05H00. Going by our previous track record this also meant that we would reach Shotley - our new home port - in daylight. Another bonus!
It was still pitch dark when we woke the next morning. Thank God - forecast fog had not materialised. Wind was a feeble 3Bft, but at least it came from the right direction. Swell was less than 0.5m. As the sun rose in the East we were already 12NM out of Ostend. Things were going well.
In short, it was a glorious day. You can't buy this stuff. Father and daughter settled into their well established routine. Dad at the helm, daughter fixing breakfast and reading. Even the ever temperamental autopilot wanted to chip in and steered for a few hours.
Around lunchtime the wind dropped markedly. We were still doing a respectable 4.5kts OTG, but I decided to press the engine into service all the same. Sure, we could have sailed on, but it would have meant arriving after dark. It had already been a long day and there was school/work the next day.
About 7NM off Harwich the wind picked up again. Another hour of glorious sailing. As hoped for, we were off Shotley at 16H00. Brigitte and Yanni were already waiting for us.
Final approach - lock - berth. Cleaning up was all that remained. How can two people make such a mess in only 12 hours?
Tired and proud father and daughter retired to the bar, whilst mum did her "thing". I gather we slept most of the way back.
In the mean time...
10/10/2005
I have turned 40.
Still looking cool (or trying to) after all these years.
If life's supposed to start at 40, no more hanging about. Let the good times role.
The odd jobs
30/09/2005, Ostend
It's been over three months since I last updated our blog - must put things to right! No slacking just because it's winter.
As lift out charges in the UK border on the ridiculous, there are some jobs I want doing in Ostend before we head back to our winter home in Shotley.
1. Fresh anti-foul: the AwlGrip I had applied two years ago was finally losing the battle against "marine life". Opted for AwlGrip again - if it last again for another two years I'm well happy.
2. I noticed some rust on the keel when we last dried out, and the patch seemed to be bigger than the previous time I noticed it. I must admit to being a bit paranoid when it comes to safety, but I sail with my nearest and dearest, so I can not afford not to be. Scrub the keel bare and plenty of epoxy.
Job finished, and I must say I'm very pleased with the result. Smooth bottom for our baby.
Brigitte's had a bit of a moan: "She's up for sale, why are you spending all that money?" She's right - in a way. But then again, it may well take some time before we find a new owner for Yanita - in the mean time I want to keep her in top condition. It's not like we're giving up on her - I still want to be sailing her this winter.
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